Friday’s Week 1 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers from Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil served as a test trial for YouTube as the streaming platform ventures into live sports. And while there were areas that most viewers believe can be improved, there were also elements that plenty thoroughly enjoyed.
YouTube’s pregame coverage would include both an on-field team made up of Cam Newton and Kay Adams, along with a studio team made up of former NFL players Derek Carr, Tyrann Mathieu, and Brandon Marshall, along with Underdog Fantasy influencer Pete Overzet.
Both the on-field and studio pregame coverage were seemingly catered to a new-school audience, as there were several appearances from popular influencers like Mr. Beast and Deestroying throughout.
But there were also several elements of hard-hitting analysis for football purists, particularly from the former players. Derek Carr was perhaps the star of the pregame show, receiving rave reviews for an in-depth look into some of the excellent qualities of Justin Herbert, while also throwing in an incredibly funny impression of his former coach Jon Gruden.
As far as the actual broadcast quality itself, most were largely complimentary of how the game looked once it got started.
“I get the streaming aspect pisses people off,” wrote Patriots senior reporter Evan Lazar. “But the picture quality and graphics are super clean on YouTube/Amazon broadcasts.
“Not gonna lie but this YouTube broadcast is pretty damn crisp,” wrote Broncos beat reporter Cody Roark.
However, there were plenty who weren’t the biggest fan of the catering to the younger audience with influencers throughout the broadcast.
“YouTube’s blatant pandering to a younger audience w/ this NFL broadcast makes me sad,” wrote Brandon Wenerd of BroBible. “Trying too hard to appeal to kids that should be rowdy at high school football games or 20-somethings that should be in bars trying to suck face, not sitting at home on YouTube on Friday night.”
“I understand this broadcast is by YouTube, but the fact that 7-year-olds like Mr. Beast & Speed’s content doesn’t mean they’ll add any interest/value to an NFL broadcast,” wrote Carson Bieber of The Volume. “These are not sports people and they make content for little kids. Super weird. Freaky for real sports fans.”
Additionally, there were some issues with the broadcast itself that drew complaints. Notably, those who have YouTube TV were able to have access to rewind/fast fast-forward options. But for those who do not have a service, there was no option to pause, rewind, or fast-forward the stream.
Ultimately, as YouTube gets more familiar with live sports coverage, some of the complaints against the current product will likely be resolved in some form or fashion.
But given the fact that this serves as the debut broadcast on the streaming service, the core foundations of the broadcast largely had no issues, which has to be seen as an overwhelming positive given some of the problems other platforms have had in live sports coverage in the past.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.